To the Palestinians, Sheik Ahmed Yassin was a charismatic and wise spiritual leader, an elderly in a wheelchair. To Israelis, he was "the mastermind of all evil" and the inspiration behind scores of Palestinian suicide bombings. 

Yassin had to go, according to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Now he has been killed by three Israeli guided missiles early Monday, which is reportedly personally ordered and monitored by Sharon.

The assassination of Yassin, the highest-profile Palestinian killed by Israel in decades of conflict, has ignited the volcano of wrath in Palestine and the Islamic world. Palestinian military groups have vowed for "unprecedented" revenges.

"This is one of the biggest crimes that the Israeli government has committed," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Israeli media said that Israel and the Palestinian territories must brace for a new and possibly unprecedented round of bloodletting.

It seems that the Sharon government had already foreseen what would happen after the death of Yassin. Hours after the assassination, Israel has announced that the whole country enters the highest state of red alert, and sealed off Gaza Strip and the West Bank to stop any Palestinians from entering Israel.

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman said on Tuesday that Israel is well-prepared to brace for Hamas revenge.

Jerusalem's normally lively streets were virtually deserted the night following the killing of Yassin, as Jewish residents hunkered down and waited for Hamas to hit back.

Almost everybody in the Middle East could have expected the disastrous effect of the assassination of the founder of Islamic Hamas. The mostly asked question is why Sharon has chosen to take this gamble.

Analysts believe that the assassination is part of Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan. According to the plan, Sharon intends to "disengage" from the conflict by evacuating the Gaza Strip and several small Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but keeping big ones within a barrier Israel is building on land that Palestinians want for a viable state.

It is believed that Israel's assassination of Yassin is likely to escalate violence that has shelved Middle East peace talks and make an Israeli go-it-alone plan all but inevitable.

The core of Sharon's plan is believed to be that Israel will only consider its own interest in deciding what unilateral steps it will take. The Sharon government has told the United States and the rest of the world that if the roadmap on the Middle East peace failed Israel will start to implement its disengagement plan, and his request has got the nod from the US Bush administration.

The attack showed clearer than ever before that a US-backed peace "roadmap" has been eclipsed by a combination of Palestinian militant opposition, Israeli moves to annex chunks of occupied territory and US detachment during the presidential election campaign.

Analysts said Yassin's death almost certainly will invigorate Palestinian suicide attacks, and no Palestinian authorities will be able to stop them. With no truce and quiet, the roadmap will not be able to get started.

The failure of the roadmap will pave the way, politically and diplomatically, for Sharon's disengagement plan.

Israeli officials said that the message that Israel sent out by assassinating Yassin is that, when the disengagement from Gaza is finally implemented, Hamas will not be able to claim that the withdrawal was prompted by the group's terrorist operations.

The official added that the killing of Yassin is part of the Israeli offensive ahead of the implementation of the disengagement plan. 

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2004)